


You are a brick tied to me that's dragging me down

by falloutboiruto



Category: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Humor, Autistic!Mitsuki, Comedy, Gen, Hijinks & Shenanigans, LGBTQ Themes, POV Alternating, POV Multiple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-01
Updated: 2019-04-21
Packaged: 2019-12-30 10:19:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18313595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/falloutboiruto/pseuds/falloutboiruto
Summary: So, about that one joint Team 7 and Team 15 bird-rescuing mission that went downhill real fast? Have faith, because there has never been a problem in the history of ninjakind that couldn't be solved by a series of wacky schemes!





	1. Time crawls on when you're waiting for the song to start

**Author's Note:**

> hello and welcome to my boruto fanfic... i'm trying something new here, and there is a lot of POV switching(I'm aiming for all the characters to get their respective parts!). I'll update this as the show continues and as the arc as of now(1st of April 2019) isn't finished yet I don't know where I'm going with this. I'll add more characters and tags as they show up in the anime storyline!
> 
> brainstormed with @reaperduckling  
> title(s) from the song "the phoenix" by fall out boy

Mitsuki had not considered for a second in his wildest dreams that he’d be running into someone with a connection to his parent on a simple bird rehabilitation mission that seemed like a cakewalk on paper. Mr. Jugo’s odd and interesting behavior read to Mitsuki as some kind of attempt at redemption, which sure reminded him of something else that he’d rather just ignore, thank you very much. That something else being that his parent had definitely royally screwed a lot of people over, not just Mitsuki himself.

Konohamaru-sensei kept eyeing him during their walk through the forest, almost like he was expecting Mitsuki to suddenly give him some kind of new vital information or insight that would completely crack the case and solve everything. Now, Mitsuki didn’t do so well with social expectations generally but the reason for his silence at that moment was another one; he simply didn’t know anything he thought could be useful. All Mitsuki knew about curse marks was that his own made him a ticking time bomb(should the general public find out about his parentage).

Initially (what felt like a very long time ago), he hadn’t questioned this at all. What had there been to question about an ultimately completely replaceable person getting destroyed to a) make way for another clone, and b) for Mitsuki to not be of any bother to his parent when he’d become too much of a nuisance to keep alive. Initially, Mitsuki hadn’t cared much about the possibility of a violent explosion-related death should have he gotten outed as the son of Orochimaru. Especially if it had been for a noble cause (protecting Boruto was the main noble cause he’d been keeping in mind).

 But now, things were different.

Mitsuki had actually been seriously considering maybe actively committing to living out the entirety of his potential lifespan for a while now. He hadn’t told anyone yet as he wasn’t completely sure, but he liked to imagine that the people around him (Konohamaru-sensei, Sarada, the other kids from his old Ninja Academy class, Boruto) would all be very pleased to hear him say that. Mitsuki liked to think that Boruto would be especially happy to know, so he was saving that for some time special. Maybe Boruto’s next birthday party would be the optimal opportunity? That way, Mitsuki would have plenty of time to think about it.

Anyways, he could always think about it later when this mission was over (since it seemed to be going so smoothly). If only he could figure out something of use regarding the curse marks to speed up the process though…

-*-

Everything in this mission was now falling apart in front on Sarada’s eyes and she was helpless to stop it. Mr. Jugo going berserk and then getting captured by the Land of River guys, her team getting banned from the village they had been supposed to help, Wasabi and Namida getting infected with the Curse Mark, Sumire going missing, Konohamaru-sensei getting injured and still being down for the count on top of him still being left in the village, Boruto running around screaming…

“What do we do what do we do what do we do? Nothing is going right and I’m freaking out! The consequences of my actions are finally crashing down on me like I always hoped they wouldn’t,” mumble-shouted Boruto while pacing back and forth on the forest floor frantically.

“First you need to stop running around like a hamster on a wheel! I can’t think while you’re doing that and I need to think!” Sarada snapped.

Boruto stopped his pacing but instead started nervously jogging in place. Sarada wasn't sure if that really was that much less annoying, but she chose not to comment on it. Instead, she was startled by the snap of a twig breaking in half, and the cause of the noise turned out to be Mitsuki(who hadn’t said anything at all for a while) picking up nearby loose tree branches just laying around and snapping them apart with his bare hands.

“What are you doing, Mitsuki? I don’t think collecting firewood is helpful right now,” Boruto asked, voice still on edge.

“I’m not. I’m actually taking out my stress and frustration out on these loose branches instead of yelling at you guys, like a good teammate,” Mitsuki deadpanned just as he broke a surprisingly thick branch apart like it was made out of Styrofoam.

Sarada didn’t appreciate the hint of passive-aggressiveness in his tone but he really did have a point.

“Give me the rest of that branch, I can always break it into even smaller pieces,” Sarada said as Mitsuki immediately gave it to her. With a loud ‘Cha yell she snapped it apart like it had been a paper-thin twig and threw it as far into the forest as she could.

It felt awesome, and now she could think. Finally.

“We should sneak Konohamaru-sensei out from the village. He can figure out what to do,” Sarada told her teammates decisively.

-*-

Sumire was having a really, really bad day. Getting attacked by those shady Curse Mark characters was bad enough, but getting forcibly separated from Wasabi and Namida so that Sumire couldn’t know what had happened to them was even worse. They could be dead for what she knew. Her friends, dead, on her watch. But she didn’t want to think about that at all.

“I don’t know if to thank you or to scold you,” Sumire told Nue. Nue didn’t respond just like he usually didn’t and kept on eyeing a frog sitting on a nearby rock like it was live bait. Great…

Sumire could barely walk straight yet, but the primal instinct of finding her friends took over and she ordered Nue to search for her teammates’ chakra. Now, should she hopefully find them she had no earthly idea how to actually defeat the Curse Mark kids with only Nue as help, but Sumire didn’t have time to think about that right now. All she needed was to find her friends and through some way, somehow maybe it would all work out.

She didn’t know what else to do.

 


	2. Put on your war paint

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. I thought this was so fun to write that I decided to reaLLY offroad it here and write SPECULATIVE stuff. Canon divergence, if you will? The future chapters of this fanfic will probs be INSPIRED by the future canon storyline though.

Part of being an actualfax adult was acting like you always knew what do to, even though you might actually have no idea. This was a strategy that had initially confused Konohamaru as an adolescent, but as he had grown older and wiser(?) well into his twenties he understood it better and better. Fake it ‘til you make it was words to live by.

That being said, this mission was a bit of a clusterfuck.

Obviously, Konohamaru had been on way worse missions than this(at least no-one had been confirmed as dead yet), but this was the first mission he’d been on that he had been solely responsible for six kids that were all genin, had gotten injured himself, and then separated from his team(s) as the situation had quickly escalated into said clusterfuck. While Konohamaru was pondering that, a very, very tall and lanky man in a long trench coat and big hat suddenly stumbled awkwardly into the infirmary room.

“We-Uh, I mean I need to speak to Konoham-uh, this Konohagakure Ninja alone. It’s totally top-secret information that I need to discuss with him. Did I mention that I’m from the Land of Rivers? So I need to talk to him totally alone, to discuss secret stuff. With only him, with you not present,” he said to a nurse, voice slightly muffled by his giant mustache.

The nurse following him shrugged and left the room. Konohamaru had a sneaking suspicion of the true identity of this at least 3 meters tall, strange-moving person, mostly because he sounded almost exactly like Sarada did when she'd make a (very accurate) mocking impression of Boruto’s voice. Also, despite being a truly impressive height, the person wore tween sized open toed ninja shoes.

“Team 7, is that you guys?” whispered Konohamaru.

The person closed the door shut hastily and lifted up their hat a little bit to reveal a pair of red glasses as an answer.

“Yup!” a voice from their general stomach area said, only overexplaining slightly. “I came up with the idea! We made the mustache out of twigs and glue.”

“It’s a miracle the disguise worked, Boruto!” Sarada said in a hushed voice that was still slightly distorted by the fake mustache on her face. “Anyway, Konohamaru-sensei. We have come here to sneak you out so that we can figure out what to as a team! Mr. Jugo’s been captured, Mr. Tosaka left with the Land of River-guys, Wasabi and Namida were infected by the curse mark, Sumire is missing in action, we were kicked out of and banned from the village, and-“

“Yeah, I know. I saw everything that happened through this window,” Konohmaru said and pointed to the window in his room that had a view of the village square.

“Oh,” Sarada said.

“I have still not figured out anything new related to curse marks. I’m sorry, Konohamaru-sensei,” Mitsuki’s sudden voice said from the leg department of the endlessly long trenchcoat “body”.

“Aw, don’t be! We’ll figure something out together. We always do!” Konohamaru said.

Soon after as they were trying to sneak out of the building, the Sarada-Boruto-Mitsuki-sitting-on-top-of-each other's-shoulders-wearing-a-big-trench coat-monstrosity teetering dangerously around with every last shaky step and Konohamaru himself walking slowly and gingerly with a crutch as support, they were stopped by the nurse from earlier.

“Where are you two going?” she asked.

“I’m going to bring him into the forest to execute him for the crimes against this village,” Sarada quickly lied, just like they had practiced.

“Oh. Carry on then!” the nurse said and gave them a big thumbs up.

Soon, they had all slowly made it into the forest and the eldritch horror that was the trench coat disguise unraveled to reveal three kids. Three kids Konohamaru had missed very much.

“Group hug! Team 7 is back in business!” Konohamaru said before he immediately regretted doing so as it unsurprisingly really hurt to group hug with three other very enthusiastic participants. After the group hug had disbanded, Konohamaru decided to do some thinking. He sat down on a nearby rock and tried some breathing exercises to clear his mind. However, he could still hear his team chattering in the background like hens in a chicken coop.

"You know, I think the fake mustache really brings out your eyes," Mitsuki said to Sarada who was trying yet failing to rip said mustache off her face. “Maybe you should keep it on.”

Boruto started laughing hysterically at that and patted (more like slapped) Mitsuki on the shoulder several times until Sarada finally ritshed the fake mustache off, wincing in pain. 

She then threw the offending object as far into the forest as she could.

“I hated it! It was a waste of precious time and even more precious glue!” she said while dusting off twig crumbs from her hands.

…well, Konohamaru sure had missed this. A lot. But no time for sentimentality, it was time to think!

-*-

_The two green-haired kids’ bodies twisting awfully in timing with their curse marks spreading, deforming and reshaping them into monstrous creatures. Wasabi getting bitten, Namida trying to help her but abruptly getting the wind knocked out of her by being thrown into a-_

Namida suddenly gained consciousness and she was, in fact, not in a forest fighting bad guys with her friends. She was actually floating around in dark goo smothering her from every possible angle. Not a great feeling, but she simply would not cry about it! That was her decision. Come to think of it, she wasn’t sure if she was alive or not. She couldn’t move or really see or even hear anything, and the last thing she remembered was being thrown into a rock and passing out. Perhaps the dark goo she was floating around in was her own personal hell? Now that was a scary thought. 

She couldn’t stop crying about it. Her eyes felt hot as her tears escaped, until suddenly…

“Namida? Is that you crying again?” said Wasabi’s disembodied voice.

“Wasabi? Where are you? I can’t see!” Namida shouted out.

“Uh, I don’t know, my theory is that I’m in a coma. But I guess we somehow can talk with our minds. Maybe it’s because we’re such good friends!” Wasabi giggled out slightly hysterically.

“All I can see is dark goo. Is it the same for you?”

“Yep! I guess we’re both in a coma! Yay, friends ‘til the end….” Wasabi muttered.

Namida started laughing and couldn’t stop. The mix of crying and laughing at the same time almost made her choke.

“Now don’t be like that! Since Sumire isn’t here in our shared coma fever dream I’m assuming that she got away. I bet she’s probably on her way to save us right now!” Wasabi said.

Namida tried to wipe her tears without being able to move her arms. It somehow worked. Even if she had to be stuck in goo for a while it wouldn’t mean giving up for even a moment. She would never ever stop believing in her friend Sumire.

And uh, Boruto and the others too probably….

-*-

Tosaka had now decided that going with the Land of River guys had really been for the best. After all, they let him talk about birds as much as he wanted! It really was a shame about Mr. Jugo, a fellow bird-lover whom Tosaka considered a comrade in arms and spirit, though. He and Tosaka had actually really hit it off, talking for hours upon hours about ornithology. It had been so nice to find a kindred spirit, especially such a handsome one.

It was also a shame about the Konoha ninja kids as well but things would probably work out, right? Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave kudos and comments if you like this hehe!


	3. Wearing all vintage misery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh, so here's when I regret all of my story-altering decisions and try to write around them. i'm a great author i tell you!!  
> also as you may have noticed i have added a "lgbt themes" tag and i'm actually still thinking on a way to integrate that as my previous plans were foiled and spoiled by the plot twist in today(7th of april 2019)'s episode but mark my worms this fanfic WILL BE GAY it might just take a few chapters. i even drew concept art of it
> 
> beta read by @reaperduckling

Konohamaru-sensei gave Sarada and her teammates the order that they should split up:  Sarada&Company would search for Sumire, and their teacher would himself do some sneaky disguised investigating around the village. Sarada made sure to remember that they were supposed to meet up at the lake at sunset.

“Konohamaru-sensei, can you really investigate on your own with you being injured and all?” Boruto asked worriedly before they left.

“Sure I can! It’s nothing but a chakra wound!” Konohamaru-sensei said while trying and succeeding to stand up on his own without the crutch. “See, I’m good as new!”

Anyway, they split up as planned and finally found Sumire with two other also familiar faces present. Sarada was very happy about seeing Karin (and Sumire) again but not at all happy about that Suigetsu guy. He just seemed like an all-around jerk. Not even Mitsuki who knew him seemed like he wanted to talk to him.

While trying to hatch a surely genius plan to rescue their friends, Sarada had an inkling of a feeling that they should probably involve Konohamaru-sensei in this plan. She raised this concern and was met with nothing but blank stares (Karin, Mitsuki, Boruto, and Sumire) and derision (Suigetsu).

“What can this Konohamaru guy even do? I don’t think we need him.” Suigetsu sneered. “Anyway, Mitsuki, I need to talk to you. Peace out, losers.”

While Suigetsu and Mitsuki(reluctantly) went deeper into the forest to have this super-secret convo, Sarada decided to bring up the question of involving Konohamaru-sensei again.

“You mean your Team Leader?” Karin asked. “Well, I don’t know if he’d be willing to team up with Suigetsu and I because of uh, past happenstances. But I do think he could be really useful. I can even heal him so that's he's in top-notch shape again!" 

“Yeah, when you think about it, that really makes sense,” Boruto said.

“I agree with Sarada! Do you guys have a meeting spot?” Sumire asked.

“So, it's decided then! I'm going to interrupt whatever mind game Suigetsu is pulling on your friend and force him to see reason. I’ll be right back!” Karin said, getting up and leaving them alone in the forest clearing.

Karin was so cool….

**-*-**

“Sooo… Mitsuki…We haven’t spoken to each other in a while. Not since long before that whole fiasco involving you running away to the Land of the Earth.” Suigetsu said like he was throwing the hook out for fishing.

“I guess,” Mitsuki said, but it wasn’t what he wanted to say at all. He actually wanted to say a lot more but he kind of couldn’t take the metaphorical bait for reasons.

“And here I thought you’d improved your social skills by now, why are you being so cold? We’re friends, aren’t we?” Suigetsu said, crouching down so that he was on eye level with Mitsuki.

“We are, it’s just that I think you’re going to repeat everything I say to my parent,”

“So what you’re saying is that you’re feeling some ye olde growing pains á la teenage rebellion? Tale as old as time. And so soon, too. All of Orochimaru’s science experiments go bananas eventually, so the track record really isn’t great. Case in point: Jugo. But you haven’t even been out of the lab tube in the wild for much more than a year and you’re already trying to shut Orochimaru out. It’s kind of impressive considering just how intensely they brainwashed you,” Suigetsu said.

Mitsuki didn’t feel all that much better after hearing that, which Suigetsu seemed to pick up on. Somewhat.

“But yeah, Nah, it’s cool, I can keep a secret. Talk smack about my boss as much as you want, even they know that they deserve it,” Suigetsu shrugged. It didn’t help much.

“Yeah, I’m not sure this whole ‘nurturing parent’-role they've taken upon now is really that much better than the old body snatching BS. It’s still just all about traumatizing and brainwashing kids. It’s just nasty,” the disembodied voice of Karin said before she physically appeared on the scene.

 “Uh, when did you get here, Karin? But yeah, it’s pathological for sure. However I’m not sure we can brag about being much better since we do all their dirty work,” Suigetsu said.

Karin opened up her mouth as if she wanted to argue that, but Mitsuki decided to stop this conversation in its tracks already.

“Honestly, I don’t really want you guys to talk to me this way because it makes me feel sad and really confused. I don't know what to think about my parent and you know that,” Mitsuki said.

Both Suigetsu and Karin flinched.

“Uh, sorry. I keep forgetting that you’re actually created to have regular feelings. Most of the old head honcho down below’s earlier creations didn’t.” Suigetsu said. He didn’t really sound all that remorseful though.

“That’s the worst ‘apology’ I’ve ever heard,” Karin said angrily, expressing exactly what Mitsuki felt.

“Wait, am I actually supposed to have ‘regular feelings’? Why do I feel so empty all of the time, then?” Mitsuki asked.

Suigetsu winced and grimaced for a while instead of answering.

“Eh… It’s probably the trauma. That, plus the severe and repeated memory loss. Sorry kid, I thought that whole experiment was dumb too,” Suigetsu finally got out while scratching the back of his head.

“Well! Instead of being a Jerk McJerkface like a certain someone I won’t mention, we could focus on the positive!" Karin piped up. "Mitsuki, you’ve clearly developed a lot emotionally since moving to Konoha and being in the vicinity of people who aren’t heinous wanted criminals. Now, you even make several different facial expressions without it seeming forced! And I’ve seen that you’re really close with your team: Sarada seemed so worried about you after you had run away. And my, uh, what is it called, second cousin? You know, the Boruto kid! I can tell from now that you guys genuinely are friends now, it’s not just something Orochimaru put in your head.”

“I guess,” Mitsuki said.

“You don’t guess that, you know!” Karin said. “Anyways: Suigetsu, we really should get the Konohamaru guy on our team. He’s a jonin, he’ll probably come in handy in a pinch,”

Suigetsu rolled his eyes to the barely visible sky for all the treetops in the way and crossed his arms. “Ugh, fine. But if he’s still mad at us because our boss ruined his family or whatever I’m not apologizing.”

-*-

At night, they struck. Boruto went with Suigetsu to rescue Jugo, Konohamaru-sensei(who had gladly joined them) and Mitsuki were supposed to do something that Boruto had already forgotten about, Sarada and Karin distracted the Curse Mark twins and Sumire… uh, was she rescuing Wasabi and Namida? Boruto thought that, at least.

Boruto sighed in relief when they found Mr. Tosaka. Finally a friendly, familiar face! He led Boruto and Suigetsu to where Jugo was, but then when Boruto saw it coming the least, Mr. Tosaka backstabbed them.

Literally! With tranquilizers! Totally not cool!


	4. One maniac at a time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is REALLY short but the next chapter will be longer?? maybe *wink*

Wasabi thought that she and Namida being rescued by Sumire was great. Being injected with the anti-venom was even greater. Being attacked by one of the twin green jerks on their way sneaking out? Not great.

Working together to defeat said green jerk and having a now-super-powered Nue smash him into a rock, though? Indescribably awesome.

She was however not really sure what Sumire seemed so hesitant about...

**-*-**

Jugo had spent his entire life burdened by his curse mark and just generally being a pathetic lab rat. Just as he had started to accept the fact that he’d forever be alone and try to redeem what was left of him by helping birds, he’d found someone that was just as interested in birds as he was. Mr. Tosaka and Jugo had really got along well in the sense that Jugo could listen to him go on and on and on about ornithology and not really say anything himself, but at least feel very happy.

Then it turned out that Mr. Tosaka was completely evil, only wanted Jugo for his curse mark and wanted to fight him. Another betrayal in a lifetime of betrayals, just as soon as Jugo had started to even entertain the notion that maybe he had found a kindred spirit. But now he couldn’t even think because of the curse mark replacing his every last thought with bloodthirst and he could barely make out what was happening around him anymore but he could sort of hear

“Mr. Tosaka, don’t be an evil science guy! It’s not right!” Boruto slurred while laying on the floor next to a just-as-out-of-it Suigetsu.

“Did you forget the phrase ‘mad scientist’ because of me injecting you with a tranquilizer or did you simply not know it in the first place?” Mr. Tosaka taunted.

“No!” Boruto screamed and then Jugo’s vision went red and he couldn’t _think_


	5. Release the doves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is.... the last chapter. but it's not the last you'll see of me!! i'm currently working on a new fanfic where mitsuki goes home to orochimaru's house and bonds with his older brother by playing (sort of)dungeons and dragons. it's hiLARIOUS so far so stay tuned for that(?)
> 
> beta read by @reaperduckling
> 
> CONTENT WARNING for a lot of swearing in this one. A LOT

Sumire had felt so relieved after saving her friends, but watching not only one but two giant monster fights and then seeing the victor of said monster fights beat the absolute crap out of Boruto… It didn’t exactly make her happy.

“It all worked out in the end though!” Boruto cheered afterward. "Only most of my bones are broken, and we managed to save everyone, Mr. Jugo and the birds included.”

Sumire nodded. Boruto was so inspiring, honestly. Even if he’d probably not agree with what he’d inspired her to do after this. But it was for the best: Sumire really needed to be able to control Nue better. She simply didn't know what she would do with herself if what happened in the past happened again like it did in her nightmares.

Joining the Scientific Ninja Tool Team really was for the best as she kept telling herself. She and her friends would meet again, even if she wouldn’t technically be a part of Team 15 anymore she’d always be with them in spirit.

She was really going to miss everyone though…

-*-

Post-mission, the Konoha nerd crowd decided to have a little nerd party and as they cheered around Suigetsu’s colleagues, he couldn’t help to feel a bit… left out. Not that he cared or anything, it just didn’t feel super awesome exactly to have a group of people being excited around him, but him not being part of it or even feeling happy in the slightest. They had gotten the job done, sure, but what he was left with was a sense of awful loneliness.

“You don’t look happy, Suigetsu. Are you feeling sad?” Mitsuki said, appearing by Suigetsu’s side so abruptly that Suigetsu almost jumped in fright (he didn’t, though).

“No, you annoying little twerp! I would never feel sad, especially after a mission well completed! That would be so dumb,” Suigetsu said.

"Hm," Mitsuki said while staring at Suigetsu with a look in his eyes that seemed just a teeny bit too knowledgable for Suigetsu’s own comfort. “Well, you’re welcome if you decide to join us.”

Then Mitsuki went back to talking to Karin. Everyone and their mom were talking to Karin. Everybody seemed to just love Karin. Of course, she was oh so sweet now, sure, but when they had been in their teens together…Yikes. She had been the bitchiest bitch to ever bitch in millennia.

Not that Suigetsu was in any way shape or form jealous of Karin’s newfound social skills. He just wasn’t.

“Hey, Karin. Remember when we were in a terrorist team with Sasuke together and you…”Suigetsu was suddenly saying, right in front of Karin’s face with no recollection of how he got there in the first place. Bad idea. Bad, bad idea.

“I don’t remember, you’ll have to remind me in private,” Karin interrupted him with a dangerous voice cold as ice as she quickly dragged him to the side, and as soon as she was out of earshot from the Konoha jerks(and Jugo), her calm exploded into smithereens.

“Dude, what is with you? Why do you have to keep bringing that shit up to everyone? I changed, Suigetsu. I worked so hard to grow up. Maybe you should do the same, you little bitch.”

Suigetsu desperately wanted to have something to counter with. Maybe a little bit too much.

“Blocko! Now you’re the bitch!” he said.

Karin rolled her eyes furiously. ”Yeah, keep telling yourself that. I’m gonna go have fun with my friends. You decide what you want to do, Suigetsu,” she spat out while also intentionally spitting him right in the face. On purpose.

Suigetsu, shell-shocked, screamed internally in disgust for a few minutes as he watched Karin go back and strike up a seemingly lovely conversation with that Sarada kid.

Hm. Maybe she was kind of right after all.

Wiping the spit off his face, Suigetsu went back to the group.

-*-

It had admittedly felt pretty good taking all of her pent-up frustration out on Suigetsu, Karin thought to herself, but as he came running back to the group she couldn’t help to think that maybe he was out for revenge.

Turned out that he really wasn’t, though.

“Listen you Konoha jerks… Uh, I mean, Ninjas of Konoha! I have something important to say,” Suigetsu stammered instead of his usual self-assured bitter yet somewhat distinctive je ne sais quoi.

He was met with radio silence, so Karin took pity on him for once.

“And that is…?” Karin said.

“Uh”, Suigetsu mumbled. “Konohamaru! You actually seem alright and I’m sorry that my boss was such a jerk to your family with the uh, murder of your grandfather and all.”

“You don’t have to bring it up,” Konohamaru said. “No, really. Just don’t.”

“Sumire!” Suigetsu continued. “I’m sorry I punched you several times and I think your summoning beast is actually pretty cool. Sarada, your dad is a jerk but you are ‘aight. Boruto…,” he did a simple thumbs up motion towards a Boruto(whose facial expression remained unchanged at this).

 “Who even is this guy, anyway?” the Wasabi girl stage whispered to her friend with the pigtails (Namida?).

Discounting that, Suigetsu was met with nothing but crickets. He seemed to persist nonetheless.

“Mitsuki. I’m sorry your parent kind of sucks, no offense. You’re like a weird nephew to me and I really hope you understand that. I’m here if you want to talk about anything.”

“None taken. That’s all really nice, but I’d rather talk to Karin now,” Mitsuki said. Oh boy.

“Then why did I do all of this dumb apologizing for?” Suigetsu screeched while flailing his arms in the air like a petulant child.

“Well, sometimes you’ve got to stop the phony apologies and actually make a change," Karin said. "You can start by celebrating this mission ending with us!"

Suigetsu muttered something under his breath and tried to shrink away, but Konohamaru went up to him and initiated a conversation with him. They even actually talked for several minutes in a pleasant manner from what Karin could see. That already beat Suigetsu’s personal record for friendly small-talk! Karin felt so proud of him, he really was improving!

“Karin and Mr. Jugo, what are you guys going to do now?” Sarada asked.

“I’m going to go home to the lab I’m overseeing. But, on a more exciting note, I’m actually getting married next year so you and your families are all invited,” Karin said cheerily. “Mitsuki, Sarada, my fiancée has said that she’d love to meet you guys!”

“What about me?” Boruto asked all the while Sarada almost started crying of happiness.

“Sure,” Karin said slightly more nonchalantly, scratching the shaved side of her head.

Jugo, who hadn’t said anything for a while in lieu of standing around stoically seemed to finally notice everyone’s expectant looks on him.

“I’m going to be penpals with Mr. Tosaka since we really got along until he started doing human experiments on me. However, I’m so used to it that I think I’d be okay with exchanging letters about ornithology with him while he’s in jail,” Jugo said. “But maybe I’ll just end up ghosting him. We’ll see.”

“That’s the spirit!” Karin cheered! That was a great development for Jugo! Even if Suigetsu apparently hadn’t told him yet about their secret plan(unbeknownst to Konohamaru) to actually take Tosaka back to Orochimaru’s hideout and ‘convince’ him to spill the beans on his research. If Jugo really wanted to, he would be able to have face-to-face conversations about birds with Tosaka. But if Jugo decided against it there were still plenty of fish in the sea left, so it truly was a win/win situation.

She noticed suddenly that Mitsuki was staring at her intently with a kind of piercing stare that was one of the few times his resemblance to his parent was made extremely apparent. Did he want to talk to her one-on-one? It usually meant that, right?

“Uh, did you want to ask me something?” Karin said to him as she brought him to the side to have a bit more private conversation.

“So, it’s possible to marry someone of your own gender? I got the impression from what others have said that it wasn’t,” Mitsuki said, cutting right to the chase apparently.

“What, who told you that? Of course, it is!" Karin said. Well, at least in some more progressive countries (the Land of Fire included, thankfully)…

"I've just gotten the feeling that it wasn't the norm. But I don't care about that. Meeting your wife when the time comes will be really fun,” Mitsuki said, but to Karin, it felt like he was holding something back and leaving something out.

Well, he’d tell her when he was ready, she figured. Which was apparently right now, because Mitsuki started talking again.

“Since you would probably have some expertise on this; what’s a good birthday gift for someone that you like?” Mitsuki said. “I’m thinking of telling him that I want to live as my own person until I become an adult and then die of old age eventually. Also, I want to spend that time with him and my other friends."

“Uh... Sounds great!” Karin said. “Maybe you could write it on a birthday card in rhyme!”

“Hm, yes. It’s too many words to fit on a cake, right?”

-*-

Konohamaru would pat himself on the back if only it didn’t still kind of hurt to do that. They had all managed to complete the mission alive, and that was the important thing. Aside from Karin, Suigetsu and Jugo sneaking Mr. Tosaka out right under Konohamaru’s nose, it had all gone pretty well things considered.

But he never wanted to be solely responsible for six kids on a mission again. It was just too stressful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the end ehhee

**Author's Note:**

> Don't forget to comment and leave kudos! :D


End file.
